Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has defended the decision to reopen the economy next Monday, stressing that the government is not being hasty in allowing certain sectors to operate again, as it is merely a relaxation of rules and does not mean that the movement control order (MCO) is over.

"We are not opening up everything, not everyone can operate.

"For example, the Education Ministry still cannot operate, schools and universities still cannot operate.

"Gatherings are still not allowed... Just because we're opening up doesn't mean we are doing it hastily as claimed by some," he told a press conference in Putrajaya.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday announced the reopening of the country's economy albeit with stringent standard operating procedures (SOP).

Ismail Sabri said the announcement is consistent with what the government had repeatedly stated, which is there will be a gradual relaxation as the Covid-19 situation in the country improves.

"However, this does not mean that the MCO has been rescinded. We are only relaxing the rules for certain sectors," he said.

He added that the government is now taking an even more targeted approach in curbing Covid-19.

He gave the example of Putrajaya, which is a Covid-19 red zone, meaning the area has 41 or more active cases.

However, he pointed out that when authorities zoomed in on the data, all the cases are only concentrated in one precinct.

"It is not fair that the green zones are treated the same way as the red zones," he said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had outlined several measures to put in place before reopening the country, including the need to have a strong testing regime.

Ismail Sabri assured that the country has sufficient capacity as well as hospital beds and ventilators.

"We had aimed for a capacity of 16,000 tests a day but we can now do more than that," he said.

Asked if Malaysia could risk a relapse of the pandemic like in Hokkaido, Japan, he said the situations were different.

"If you look at Hokkaido, Japan, they allowed foreigners to enter the country. It was the sakura blooming season and many people from outside went in, causing imported cases.

"But it is different here as we have closed down (overseas travel) and until today, foreigners are not allowed in.

"Airports won't accept foreigners and even Malaysians returning home must be quarantined," he said.

He said the government is ready to face any new Covid-19 outbreak and will employ a targeted approach.

He also stressed that all businesses that are reopening must comply with the strict SOPs, such as temperature monitoring and social distancing, or they will be ordered closed.

He added that police may decide to redeploy some personnel from roadblocks to ensure businesses are observing the SOPs.

As of noon yesterday, the country recorded 6,071 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 103 deaths.

However, 4,210 of those have recovered while another 1,758 are in treatment.

The infection rate has gone down after more than a month of partial lockdown.

The MCO began on March 18 and is set to end on May 12.

Under the MCO, all non-essential businesses and services were ordered closed and people cannot leave their homes except for approved reasons, such as buying groceries within a 10km radius.

The move, aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, has brought a large part of the country's economy to a standstill.

Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker.

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